What's Impacting Us - By Matte Black

We asked our team at Matte Black to name one thing that's making an impact. See what they said...

Pokémon GO....and not for the reason you would think. Yes, the free app has made a huge impact on Nintendo's stagnant stock price, the social lives of multitudes of millennials, and the battery life of smart phones across the globe; but surprisingly the largest impact could potentially be on the lives of people in need. By simply downloading/using the app Charity Miles a user can donate 25 cents for every mile walked on foot. Imagine the huge impact it would make if only a fraction of the estimated 9.5 million of app users started using Pokemon Go and Charity Miles in tandem! More here.

REBECCA BAROUKH, CLIENT STRATEGIST

Businesses focused on helping other businesses do social good.Pledgeling is a B2B company that integrates with ecomm to make donating to charity easy. If your brand is passionate about research, you can ask for donations for that, a local chapter of PETA, you can get donations for that. Everyone is looking to incorporate social good into what they do, this is an easy way to make that happen.

Micah Heykoop, Director of Strategy + Culture

KIDS! In one of Kanye West's many infamous speeches he says "Listen to the kids, bro!" And it's true! From social networks to social impact, viral content to fashion, many of these trends start with Gen Z. What should we attribute this to? Well, technology of course. Gen Z is comprised of the first, true digital natives and their use of technology and the internet has given them a better understanding of how the world works: culturally, financially, politically, socially, etc. It's no surprise that the most open-minded of the generations is the ones making the most impact. Read more about it in this article by Russ Fujioka.

Delanie Billman, Marketing Manager, Brand + Influence

Facebook Live! Sure, there's Periscope, and Meerkat before that, but this has literally changed the game in ways that they couldn't: it's integrated into something we were already looking at every day. It's almost taken the idea of vlogging, and turned it on it's head: anyone can do it, without parameters, and without context (whether good or bad). It's like Snapchat, but without the doggy faced filters.

CHELSEA MATTHEWS, FOUNDER + CEO

Frank Ocean... Besides Kanye or Beyonce, I'm not sure how many people would be able to get us to be enamored by an objective, black and white streamed video of a nameless man cutting planks of wood. I might never get these 7 hours of my life back and the constant room tone might have driven me crazy, but from out of the shadows (and obscurity) Frank did just that. He got our attention, once again. We're talking about a guy who has released only 1 album (plus, a mixtape) and has disappeared almost entirely from public view since that debut. He's canceled performances. He's been assumed dead across Twitter. He's come up for air only a few times in the last three years. Despite all of this, we're still enamored by the character of Frank Ocean; the modern man that plays the game by his own rules. The best part: by the time you're reading this, you'll probably know every word from his sophomore album, 'Boys Don't Cry'. Or maybe not. Maybe he's juking us again...Read more.